Thurs. 5/12, 8pm, $5:

Walter Spencer has been playing Bluerass and Old Time around Los Angeles for 20 or so years. But it wasn’t till a trip to Weiser, idaho in 1999 when his VW van conked out in between the campsites of Pig Iron and the Dickel Brothers, it was there in Stickerville did his love affair with old time and portland begin. Playing, gigging, recording and partying often in Portland with Foghorn, Flat Mountain Girls, as well as playing on the last three Water Tower Bucket Boys CD’s.

So in fact, Walter learned about this beautiful music from the South East from the Pacific Northwest

He also shot a documentary on the Portland Old Time Community parts of it can be seen here and here.

Walter Spencer is happy to be part of the LA OLD TIME SOCIAL and will play a set of tunes on solo guitar and banjo.

The Driftwood Singers are an Appalachian style close-harmony group from Los Angeles, CA. Kris Hutson rotates between guitar, banjo and mandolin while harmonizing with Pearl Charles, who strums the autoharp. Together, the two perform a unique blend of original and traditional music that is certain to charm any audience.

Modal Tease, an old time string band, is serving’ up sizzling hot slices of American Folk Tradition to music lovers in Southern California and beyond. We grew out of the Los Angeles old-time music scene, where folks meet regularly to jam and share tunes “around the campfire.” Our penchant for modal tunes brought us together, and our fascination with obscure crooked tunes and other “jam busters” sealed the deal. Modal Tease the band was born in 2009 and we’ve been playing Farmer’s Markets, Concerts, Dances, and Living Rooms ever since.

Belinda Thom on the Devil’s Box (fiddle) and Cliff Latimer on mandolin belt out tight unison melodies and vocal harmonies. With Jim Hamilton on claw-hammer banjo and Larry Ullman on standup bass, we play hard-driving dance numbers, archaic fiddle and banjo tunes, songs and ballads. We respect and protect the old time traditions but like to serve them up in fresh new ways.

As life stampedes along, we delight in transporting folks back to an earlier time, to a porch in Southern Appalachia, where fireflies buzz and neighbors retire after a hard days work to commune with their culture, making music by-hand.

Gene Burdo was born and raised in rural Western Massachusetts on a farm to a musical family that played piano, fiddle, and guitar. He attended local schools and graduated from the technical high school. He then enlisted into U.S. Air Force during the Korean war as an aircraft mechanic crew chief, and eventually served in Riverside, Ca where he met his wife of 54 years Dorothy. Has three grown children all of whom play music. He likes playing and singing old time string music, old country ballads, old style bluegrass. He is an experienced instrument repair man, and has a small collection (some say it IS NOT small).

Tom Sauber does it all, and you won’t hear anyone do it better. He’s a master musician in a variety of styles, a multi-instrumentalist (banjo, fiddle, guitar, and mandolin) and singer, well grounded in tradition, with a comprehensive grasp of style and an exceptional ability to teach. In the 30-plus years Tom has devoted to playing traditional music, the cast of characters with whom he has associated reads like a who’s who in old-time, bluegrass, and Cajun music. He is particularly known for his long-time partnerships with Oklahoma fiddler Earl Collins (with whom he recorded the classic LP That’s Earl) and North Carolina banjo picker Eddie Lowe, both now deceased.

Evie Ladin plays old-time banjo. The whomp and jive of her clawhammer style, Evie’s resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance – have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the backyard to the mainstage. Based in Oakland, CA, Evie tours solo, as a duet or with her new quartet Evil Diane, supporting her solo debut release Float Downstream. Produced by famed mandolinist/composer Mike Marshall and percussion master Keith Terry, Sing Out! magazine reports “Solid song craft performed wonderfully end to end…Very strongly recommended.”

Old Sledge is a group of young musicians from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Blowing the dust off old tunes and songs from the golden era of early country, hillbilly and blues music, Old Sledge represents the best and brightest of the new generation of traditional musicians from the south. Far from being re-enactors of old time music they bring creative arrangements and dynamic performances while still holding true to the mountain aesthetic in which they are rooted.

The band has a powerful combination of excellent singing and instrumentals. Their repertoire spans the gamut of old time country and blues music, moving from virtuosic fiddle tunes to Appalachian murder ballads to greasy blues. The band is quickly gaining notoriety, not only as a great performance ensemble, but also as a torchbearer of traditional music.

Members of the band have sought out and mentored with the old masters of traditional music, soaking up not only the tunes but also the authentic style and spirit of old time music. Collectively, the band has won numerous awards for their music including the West Virginia Fiddle and Banjo championships, as well as 1st place at The Appalachian String Band Festival (Clifftop, WV). Members have performed in such prestigious venues such as The Kennedy Center, The Barbican, Carnegie Hall, and starred in the BBC television production “Folk America”.

Old Sledge performs in a variety of settings including festivals, concerts and dances. They also lead workshops in traditional Appalachian singing and playing and have been faculty at the Augusta Heritage Center, Pinewoods Dance Camp, Allegheny Echoes, Cowan Creek and Champlain Valley Folk Festival.